The guys were super excited after winning the Sonicbids Road to Roo Contest and even more so after arriving and setting up their camp, bringing them closer than ever to their first ever big festival gig.

Performing at the festival was a first for the unsigned band from South Carolina and they attribute their success to their loyal fans who got online to help send them to Manchester, TN to perform at Bonnaroo.

On the heels of his last-minute headlining slot before a massive crowd at this weekend's Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Jack Johnson has announced a Nashville date at the intimate Ryman Auditorium.

The show will be at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2. Tickets will be $69.90 and $55.40, plus applicable service charges, and will be available exclusively through a lottery on http://jackjohnsonmusic.com/welcome/ -- a move designed to allow fans a fair shot at tickets for the intimate theater shows on Johnson's fall tour. From now until 9 a.m. Central Monday, June 24, fans can enter the lottery for a chance to purchase up to four tickets a show. Winners will be selected after June 24 and receive emails with purchase instructions. See http://www.ryman.com/ for more information.

It’s the electricity that first guitar lick in a sound check sends ricocheting through the grounds.

And it’s people from everywhere, of all backgrounds and ages, gathering to hear diverse genres of music and pretty much all get along.

For 12 years now, Bonnaroo has gathered about 80,000 people — from college students in feathered bird suits to sensible music lovers in breathable athletic gear — all for music and entertainment.

This year, they came to see a 70-year-old legend rock the main stage for nearly three hours. Paul McCartney’s youngest fans at Bonnaroo were born more than 20 years after The Beatles called it quits. Still, they were given the opportunity — and they took it — to rock along to the 1966 song “Paperback Writer” performed on the same guitar it was recorded with.

Festivalgoers also came to see another set of legends on Sunday, the final night of the festival: Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers perform at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival on Sunday, June 16, 2013 in Manchester, Tenn. (photo: John Partipilo/The Tennessean)

After four long days and nights in Manchester, Tennesseee – where 80,000 music lovers soaked up sounds ranging from rock to rap, country, folk and electronica – it was up to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers to close up the 2013 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival with a set stocked with time-tested rock classics.

“How ya doing?” Petty asked the sea of fans assembled at Bonnaroo’s main stage a few minutes after 9 p.m. “Oh, it’s nice to be here in Tennessee with all you people. Let’s do one we can all sing right here.” Petty picked a good one – “Won’t Back Down” – with fans echoing its “Hey baby” refrain through the field.

It wasn’t five seconds after the song sounded its final chord that the sky opened up for a brief downpour - but Petty and the Heartbreakers continued to plow through tunes, and fans dried off to the familiar strains of “Here Comes My Girl” and crowd favorite “Last Dance with Mary Jane.”

After that song, Petty predicted that he, his band and the audience would have “an incredible time tonight.”

“I don’t have to be anywhere for hours,” he said with a grin.

That’s a safe prediction to make when you know you still have a song like “Free Fallin’” in your back pocket, which Petty pulled out less than an hour into the evening as the rain returned.

The band was one of three headliners at the 12th annual festival -- held Thursday through Sunday in Manchester -- along with Paul McCartney and singer/songwriter Jack Johnson, who was an 11th hour replacement for British folk-rockers Mumford and Sons.

Sunday's headlining slot at Bonnaroo often goes to "jam" bands (Phish Widespread Panic have both played multiple Sundays at Bonnaroo), and Petty and co. used the opportunity to stretch out, indulging in lengthy blues numbers including recent standout "I Should Have Known It." They saved a few of the best and biggest for last, returning for an encore with "Don't Come Around Here No More" and "You Wreck Me" before Petty announced that they would "leave you where it started" - via one of their earliest singles, "American Girl."

As evening approached and musical offerings broadened at Bonnaroo on Sunday, some attendees likely had no idea what sort of sound would greet them as they ventured from one corner of Centeroo to another. The weather was similarly unpredictable. As fans poured out of rapper Kendrick Lamar's claim-staking set on the What stage, clouds rolled in and winds picked up, spurring some to chant "Hur-ri-cane! Hur-ri-cane!"

Luckily, everyone remained dry - perhaps in part because Del McCoury assured them they would while he and fellow bluegrass star Sam Bush teamed up for a two-man performance at That Tent. Before Bush and McCoury treated straw-hatted, flip-flopped bluegrass fans to favorites including "Hang Your Head in Shame," local officials presented the Middle Tennessee residents with the key to Coffee County and a new ceremonial prize from the city of Manchester.

Despite the thousands and thousands of trash-deserting fans, Bonnaroo has a very Clean Vibe.

Behind the movement is the nonprofit with the same name, which every year recruits hundreds of volunteers to scour the grounds picking up every abandoned cup, stubbed-out cigarette and random banana peel left on the festival grounds.

There are four types of volunteers.

The clean up volunteers collect and consolidate bags of trash and recycling and sweep the grounds of all litter each morning. In teams of 24, they form lines across the trash-covered fields, walking together with waste bags in hand as they stoop to scoop up debris.

Others stand in the food areas and educate people on waste disposal as they help clean up.

Volunteers also do a little "trash talking" while stationed next to the three-bin waste stations that include a recycle bag, a compost bag, and a bag for things that absolutely can't go anywhere but a landfill.

The dirtiest job goes to the compost volunteers, which rip open trash bags and sort the non-compost items.

In return for three, six-hour shifts of service, the volunteer group receives a free ticket to the four-day Manchester music festival.

"It's a really good way to help keep our environment and earth clean," said Tyler Ritt, 21, who came from Ohio and - gloves on - was in the middle of 7:30 a.m. trash-collecting shift in front of This Tent.

"It's kind of like we scratch their back, they scratch ours."

Even those who aren't part of the Clean Vibe team can help keep Bonnaroo pristine - and get a reward for their work.

Through the Trading Post, Bonnaroo attendees can turn in bags of cigarette butts, cans and bottles, which become "currency." Each bag earns a specific number of points, and the more recycling that is gathered, the more valuable items attendees can "purchase" at the Trading Post.

Prizes consist of donations by the event producers, artists, and other eco-friendly companies. Examples include everything from dresses and footballs to free tickets to future events.

Fans get excited about the opportunity to help keep Bonnaroo clean while earning cool prizes, and it enables Clean Vibes to directly engage people in the clean up process, educate them about the importance of recycling, and eliminate as much of the event’s waste as possible without putting it in a landfill.

"I think it helps keep the place clean," said Ahmed Bukhari, 21, as he turned in a bag of cigarette butts in hopes of earning enough points for a T-shirt. "And it's volunteer run, so that's nice."